Disclaimer—I don't own Harry Potter, the books, the intellectual property or anything else about it—all belongs to JK Rowling. I made up Hermione's parent's first names because I couldn't find any reference to their actual names. If anyone knows them, let me know, and I'll make the necessary changes.

Over the next several days, Tonks kept her eyes and ears open for any news of Arthur's inquiry. Her friendly, breezy personality had won her friends and aquaintances in many different departments, and she could go to different people for information without drawing too much attention to herself to any particular person.

The news wasn't good. Lucius was acting as if he had a personal vendetta against Arthur. He and Arthur had never like each other, but Lucius' reaction seemed rather overblown to her. The investigators were searching Arthur's office and digging into his personal life (luckily, his wife and children had no skeletons in their closets). Furthermore, they were checking into his working history and dragging out every incident where Arthur had stepped outside the bounds of Ministry procedure. Unfortunately, there were many such incidents. None of them by themself were of any great importance, but looked at together, it seemed to add up to a track record of insubordination and unecessary recklessness where magical-muggle boundaries were concerned.

Arthur for his part, continued to do his job despite the interuptions. He just pretended that nothing was going on and that everything was fine. He showed up to work on time, completed his assignments and went home at night. To look at him outwardly, one would never guess the strain he was under. Nobody but Tonks.

She saw him several times, in the hallways, in the lunchroom. She stopped avoiding him and would smile and nod as she passed. He was as pleasant as ever to her.

Tonks was sitting in the lunchroom again on Friday. She had been out on a case again that morning and got back in time to eat. However, she almost lost her appetite when her girlfriend told her the news. Arthur's formal Inquiry was set for Monday.

LATER AT THE WEASLEY'S

Molly and Arthur agreed that they would not mention Arthur's Inquiry or the enchanted car, or anything else unpleasant when the Grangers came to visit. After all, the two couples didn't know each other very well and you could just never predict how muggles would react to things.

The Grangers arrived promptly and brought the wine and were given a tour of the house. Karen was amazed.

"Molly, your house is wonderful!" Karen said with unfeigned admiration. The women were alone in the house while Arthur showed Steve the grounds

In Molly's eyes, The Burrow was home, but it was nothing special. She chuckled deprecatingly.

"It really has flair," Karen continued. "Our house is nice. But it's just a house like all the others on the street."

"You're just not used to wizard houses," Molly replied. However she couldn't help feeling a glow of pride from Karen's praise. Despite Karen's remarks about the ordinaryness of the Granger's home, Molly was curious to see it.

Just before dinner was ready, Steve and Karen told the story of how they recieved the Weasley's invitation.

"We're so used to Hermione's owl, you see." Karen said. "It's the only owl we've ever used for communication, so we're used to its quirks. So when your owl arrived, Steve volunteered to remove the message."

"Let's just say, I'm not used to its habits," Steve said, smiling.

"Well, to make a long story short, the owl was flapping around the kitchen, Steve was trying to untie the knot, and I'm thinking that the neighbors have heard all the ruckus by now and have called the police--or animal control."

Arthur was enjoying the story, but Molly was horrified and started to say something, but Steve waved off her objections.

"It was okay, Molly, really." Steve hastened to assure her. "We laughed over it for the longest. Actually, Karen didn't tell you, but through most of this episode, Karen was sitting on the floor, holding her stomach and laughing her head off."

Molly had spied the bandage on Steve's hand. "Did it bite you?" She asked.

Karen and Steve glanced at each other. They weren't going to mention the bite. After all, they didn't know the Weasleys very well, and they didn't know how wizards would react to things. Besides, it had been fine. They bandaged it and Karen had given him a tetanus shot and they really did had a good laugh over the whole incident.

"Why no," Steve began. "I got this..."

"I think you're lying," Molly said with a faint smile.

"Not to worry, Steve," said Arthur. "Magical owls are very clean creatures and don't carry disease. Molly, why don't you take a look at it and give the Grangers some of the potion you use for owl-bite."

As Molly headed towards the kitchen with Steve trailing behind her, Karen tried to smooth over the situation.

"Really, it was funny and Steve is fine. After all, it's not as if we've never had a bite or scratch before."

"I know, Karen, but you have to understand Molly--she worries about everything. And anyhow," Arthur said nonchalantly, hoping to show off some of his knowledge of muggle medicine, "Steve won't need a tettis shot."

Karen managed to keep a straight face. She thought Arthur was all right.

In the kitchen, Molly silently took Steve's hand and carefully removed the bandage. There was a red welt where the owl had bitten him, but it wasn't bleeding or oozing. She ran one finger over the welt slowly and reached for the potion. She dabbed a little onto the wound and rubbed it into the area before she replaced the bandage. Steve didn't say a word the whole time. She looked up at him. He was staring at her intensely, and she dropped her eyes.

"Keep this." She said, handing him the half-empty bottle and letting go of his hand. "We have plenty."

"Now that I'm so adept at magical communication," Steve said softly, "I'll have to teach you how to use the telephone. Someday."

Molly looked up at him again. He was smiling at her.